Sonicbids Artist of the Week: The Latonas

Posted by Marya Mclaughlin on Jun 6, 2011 09:33 AM
Marya Mclaughlin
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The Latonas are an exciting four-piece blending catchy guitar melodies, explosive drums and a three pronged vocal line up which combine seamlessly in songs that will get you dancing and stay stuck in your head for days. With influences ranging from The Beatles to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, they have a unique pop sensibility that can truly appeal to the masses. We had the chance to chat with guitarist/vocalist, Ben Runyan, about the bands beginning, what “indie” means to them, and where you can check them out next.

 

When did you decide to make a career/focus of music?

 

I guess it was around the start of last year. We’d been getting a bit of a following around Melbourne and thought it was something we’d really like to pursue. We all deferred from university for a year and started playing every week in the city to just get really tight and try out our new songs on different audiences. I think that really helped us to build our fan base and a growing reputation. It brought us to Sydney, a few festivals in and out of state, and we are organizing some gigs in Japan for towards the end of the year, so you could say it paid off.

 

What’s the best gig you ever played?

 

Our two EP launches in the last 12 months have both been crazy, the sense of excitement of releasing recordings always makes a gig memorable. Also having the place packed out helps. We played in the St. Kilda Town Hall last year in front of about 800 people supporting Dallas Crane and Tim Rogers from You Am I, which was a huge thrill for young guys like us. I think it was the crowd interaction that really made it worth it.

 

There’s been a lot of talk recently about what being an “indie” artist really means today. Some say the term is becoming obsolete. What does “indie” mean to you, and do you think there will be a different word we use in the next 10 years?

 

It’s definitely a word that gets thrown around so much that it’s lost all meaning. Everybody is an “indie” artist these days, including us. “Indie” to us means an ‘individual’ style of music, something you cant put into a single category. It used to be genre but all the best bands like Bloc Party and The Libertines have all changed or broken up. Maybe it’s out of fashion but some new sound will come along with some new term attached with it, as it does every 10 or so years. Personally I’m excited about it, we’re due for a revolution.

 

What’s your favorite way/tool/site for you to interact with your fans in the digital age? Do you recommend anything to other artists?

 

We predominantly use Facebook as a means to promote our band. Also we have an official website which we update with photos, videos and upcoming gigs. What we have also been involved in that we’d recommend to other bands is all the internet radio stations that are out there; we mainly use Jango and 7161.com along with many others, which we found through Sonicbids.

 

What’s your next big gig coming up? When/Where?

 

Later this year is the Kansai Music Conference in Osaka, Japan where we have been invited as a showcase artist, which is September 16-19th. We are really excited to bring our sound over there. Now all we need are the funds to get there…so…if there are any sponsors out there, happy to hear from you!

Check out more on The Latonas here.









































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